Soulajar lead singer and American Idol contestant Jim Ranger sings “Drive,” the song that earned him a golden ticket to Hollywood. Photo by Terry Telford

Members of the band Soulajar perform at Wednesday night’s Bakersfield Jazz Workshop, with support from saxophonist Paul Perez. Photo by Terry Telford

By Terry Telford

A day after the nation watched Jim Ranger make it to the Hollywood round of “American Idol,” the local worship pastor and his band Soulajar took the stage as part of his hometown’s grassroots music movement, the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop.

In Ranger’s future, the workshop may seem a world away from the bright stage lights, TV cameras, screaming fans and celebrity judges.

But Wednesday night, Le Corusse Rouge set a laid back mood, with its casual lounge and dark, heavy atmosphere where one might expect to find the ghosts of saxophone trills hanging in the air, lingering over the pool table, or perhaps the long, well-worn bar.

As with every week, the first hour of the workshop was devoted to a group of teens who practice under the direction of Steve Eisen, the workshop’s founder and director. During the third hour, highly skilled adult musicians took turns jamming and crooning.

But it was the main performance during the middle hour that many had come to watch: Soulajar, a 2007 Starbucks/HearMusic SoCal Music Award winner, brought its lively, soulful sounds to an appreciative audience eager to catch a glimpse of lead singer Ranger, 27, a worship pastor at New Life Center and a contender on this season of “American Idol.”

Supporting performers Roy Medina (conga/percussion), Chris Pedersen (keyboards) and Paul Perez (saxophone) joined the band’s guitarist Ryan Fergon, bassist Greg Bettis and drummer Brian Boozer for a few instrumentals before guest vocalist Francois Sterling got things pumping with an energetic performance backed by the band.

Then it was time for Ranger to join his bandmates on stage. Together, they treated the crowd to the full arrangement of his Idol audition song, “Drive,” a funky, sunshine-laden track made for swaying with the one you love.  The hour passed quickly.

The members of Soulajar, currently working on a full-length album, say they are big fans of the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop. Ranger said he loves seeing “a group getting together and taking younger musicians under their wings and really coaching them on. ‘This is why we do what we do, this is how we do what we do. This is how we make it sound good.’ It’s just a cool thing. Any time the older is teaching the younger it’s the only way you can truly get good.”

Ranger credits his parents, who are both vocalists, as his greatest teachers.

“It wasn’t too long ago that we were in their shoes,” said Bettis, referring to the teens who come to be coached and encouraged under Eisen’s tutelage.

The band members are also great supporters of their lead man, Ranger, who in an episode of “American Idol” Tuesday night demonstrated he has what it takes to compete with an elite selection of singers from around the country.

About that Idol audition, in which guest judge Avril Lavigne dismissed the singer – not for his voice, but for his busy personal life – Ranger said, “There’s not a lot of weight behind a lot of people’s words for me.”

His next statement gets a chuckle from his bandmates.

“Let’s say, if a punk pop star was to say she didn’t believe I could do it … it’s not gonna have a lot of weight to me,” he says. “There are key people I listen to, because I know they have my best interest at heart. I listen to them for that.

“The truth of it is, no matter what comes along, if a door opens I believe God’s opened it and God will never give me anything more than I can handle, so if that door’s open, I’m gonna go through it, and I’m gonna go through it full steam. And if the door slams shut, then that’s the end of it and God has something better for me.”

What happens next is something Ranger already knows. But the rest of the world will have to wait and place bets on what will take place during Hollywood week of “American Idol.”

“Whatever happens from here on out is a matter of God opening doors and I’m gonna fly through them and not hesitate,” Ranger said.

As for the band, “The biggest thing for us right now is the record that we’re working on,” said Fergon, who would love to release a summer record.

Next up for Soulajar is the Fat Tuesday show at Fishlips, which, now in its fifth year, was started by Boozer and fellow Bakersfield musician, Matt Muñoz.

“It is one of our most exciting shows. As funk-driven musicians, Mardi Gras season is huge for us. One of our biggest influences was the New Orleans funk scene,” Boozer said.

Soulajar will share a stage with Muñoz’s band Mento Buru, plus Joel Jacob and DJ Mikey, for the 5^th Annual Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras Jam 2010, at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Fishlips, 1517 18^th St. Cost is $10 and includes an all-you-can-eat Cajun buffet.